We recently launched a new section of our website aimed at helping independent documentary filmmakers accomplish critical tasks such as finding funding, the right online distribution tools and “engagement” strategists. So now you can stop Googling for hours and just bookmark our Resources for Filmmakers page instead!

Expect more lists in the near future, but as of now our Resources for Filmmakers section features six essential resource lists and is already a one-stop shop for documentary filmmakers on the web. Three of these lists are devoted to funding opportunities. We have compiled lists of grants, awards and broadcast opportunities and separated them into three categories: documentary funding, transmedia funding for new media and web documentaries, and public media funding to find out how to get funding from us and our colleagues.

Underneath the umbrella of distribution and marketing resources, we’ve provided filmmakers with a sortable chart of 200 domestic and international film festivals where you might submit your documentary or watch new documentaries before anyone else. We’ve listed top-tier festivals you might want to aim for first, such as Sundance, IDFA, Tribeca and Hot Docs, but in the documentary world, there are plenty of other smaller festivals and local festivals that might be right for your film.

We’ve also pulled together contact information and work examples for “engagement” strategists, who can help you take the issue at the center of your film and turn it into a full-fledged action campaign. With a strategic campaign and community engagement program, documentaries can become much more than a just a film and can start to affect social change.

And last but not least is a chart interactive video-making tools for those filmmakers that want to begin adventuring into the world of new media storytelling. This is rapidly changing list — we’ll keep adding tools as more software becomes available to tell stories using the web.

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POV (a cinema term for "point of view") is television's longest-running showcase for independent non-fiction films. POV premieres 14-16 of the best, boldest and most innovative programs every year on PBS. Since 1988, POV has presented over 400 films to public television audiences across the country. POV films are known for their intimacy, their unforgettable storytelling and their timeliness, putting a human face on contemporary social issues.